Challah

The Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge: No 6. Challah

Each week I will be making a bread recipe from Peter Reinhart’s wonderful book, The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread. The sixth recipe in the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge was Challah.

Challah is a loaf of yeast-leavened egg bread that is traditionally eaten by Jews on the Sabbath, holidays, and other ceremonial occasions.

This bread is beautiful, impressive and easy to make. Compared to the other breads this one came together quickly. I also found this dough to be the most fun to play with. The kneading was effortless and I loved the feel of the dough in my hands as I worked it.

For me, the hardest part of making this bread was the braiding. I tried several times to do the six strand method but I wasn't able to follow the directions in the book. It just didn't work for me. So, I settled with making a couple of three strand loafs instead.

Once in the oven, they didn't take long to fill my kitchen with the heady scent of fresh bread. The egg wash gave them a lovely golden colour. They turned out perfect. I served this bread with some of the red currant jam that I had leftover from the weekend's Daring Baker's challenge.

This morning, my friend sent me this link on how to do a six braid bread. Um, great timing. :) I'll be making this bread again and as God is my witness, I'll master the six braid loaf! Enjoy!

How To Braid a Six-Strand Challah Bread Loaf:


Braid a Six-Strand Challah Bread Loaf -- powered by eHow.com

Be sure to check out what the other challenge participants have done.

Next bread: Ciabatta!

22 comments:

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

What a beautiful challah! That is one of my favorite breads...

Cheers,

Rosa

Priya Suresh said...

Challah looks tremendous!

Elin Chia said...

You have done a great job...evenly browned..I wished I could bake a nice one like yours ! :))
Thanks for sharing the video link on how to braid a six-strand Challah Bread :)

Pearl said...

that challah looks marvelous!

Christie @ Fig & Cherry said...

Gorgeous! Love the golden shiny crust, just perfect.

Donna-FFW said...

Your challah looks perfectly braided and colored so evenly. Gorgeous!

Maria said...

Your challah is amazing! I love it. Want to bake a loaf for me? Ha!

Creative Classroom Core said...

Wow! Yours turned out so much prettier than mine :) Great braiding!

Jacque said...

That 6-strand braid does look confusing.

Yours still looks great and I'll bet it tasted even better.

Kelly said...

Beautiful! Wish I had a big slice of that right now. :) I loved this one, too. The dough is fantastic and it tastes SO good. Thanks for the vid link - I'd like to try the 6 strand one myself.

Anonymous said...

Great looking challah! Maybe I will try a six strand one day.

NKP said...

Gorgeous challah!
I am with you - not much of a braider, but I really want to try the 6 strand one day.

Juliana said...

Great looking challah, love the texture and the sweetness of it. Like the way you braided.

maybelles mom said...

easy to make? maybe I will try it.

veggievixen said...

baking challah is my favorite!!! yours is so pretty.

Susan said...

Looks very professional. Challah makes the *best* French toast.

Thanks for the video. I've never done the 6-braid method.

Bunny said...

I am envious, Challah is one of those recipes that I want to make but haven't yet. Yours is beautiful!

Kerstin said...

So beautiful - great job!! I need to try baking bread again!

Kathie said...

What is your trick to getting the braids to stay tight while baking? My fist loaf looks ok, but spaces opened up between the braids, so the top is rather uneven. Thanks for your advice!

Sue said...

Challah is soooooo good with Nutella slathered between two slices, buttered and grilled:)

Your bread is BEAUTIFUL!

Talita said...

Your challah looks great! So delicate and good looking!

Anonymous said...

The coloring on your challah looks beautiful! And thank you so much for the video of the six-strand braiding technique, it makes it so much more approachable.
-Jen

 
Dragon's Kitchen - Copyright 2007-2010